Lots to Write!!!

I want to start writing before I forget everything I want to put in my post today so I"ll get to your questions after dinner. :)

A lot has happened in the past week! Some things I'll talk about: excursion to Bourges, food, typical French with the English language, tendencies of school and university, the notion of traveling, problems with the bus, and a bit of TV.



To start off, I went to the city of Bourges this past weekend with my program. There is a "palais" (really really nice house) and a huge cathedral there. Cathedrals mean so much more to me than they used to because I know what I am looking at. The cathedral has windows so low to the ground that one could almost reach up and touch them. This is unlike most other cathedrals. With this, one can easily read the stories portrayed on the windows. Every sculpture and window has a purpose to either use fear or hope to boost Christians' faith. Also in Bourges is the Palais de Jacques-Coeur. The palais is hard to explain but my favorite part was the sculptures. They were sculptures of animals - frogs, snails, and monkeys. I didn't get the monkeys but they were cute. Also, there was a secret passage way from Jacques-Coeur's room to his wife's room. It was a really long day but I really enjoy my program director. He knows everything you could ever want to know about France and its history and art history and religion. It's absolutely amazing. He doesn't believe in religion but he knows than most other Christians I know.





I had a good conversation with my host dad the other night -- we stayed at the table about an hour and a half after dinner had finished. We were talking about French dishes and traveling. At that dinner, I ate a sausage made of blood of pork and some oignons and bread all mixed together. It was really soft and it really didn't taste that horrible. Had my French mom not answered, "I'll tell you after you eat it." when I asked her what it was, I might have eaten the whole thing. I asked what it was after I ate some and my host dad and brother tried to tell me it was red ants from Africa smooshed up. I didn't believe them but found out that it was blood of pork instead. Yum. We started talking about how the French eat tongue, brain, etc. My host dad said he thought that Americans wasted a lot of the meat (mind you, he studied abroad in Iowa in the late 70s) and the French do not. The French use every part of their cows, pigs, etc. And they are hormone-free. I think they even taste better. ANyways, he said that his grandparents and parents used to eat brain of a donkey at least once a week. And tongue as well. Everything of that sort is very well cooked but it takes a long time. THis is why a lot of the French do not eat this type of food anymore because the demands of life are starting to build.

We also talked about travel. His host parents in America had never seen the ocean. That is definitely not the case. My host dad knows a lot of stats -- I never know if they're true or not -- but he said 40% of Americans have never been on an airplane and 80% have never seen the ocean. I know a lot of people have not but I don't know if the stats are that high. Here in France, everyone travels because of its ease. Although I like the trains here, they are definitely not perfect.

I went to Raclette party at my French friend's house last week. Raclette is a special dish in France made with Raclette cheese, bread, steamed potatoes, and all sorts of cut meat. In French classes previously, I had always had it with Roast Beef but that's not how they eat it here. They have tons of different types of ham and bacon and they have machines that you melt the cheese in. You pour the melted cheese over the potatoes and cut the meet and eat it with the potatoes and cheese. It is delicious! Anyways, I found out some things about the FAC aka university here. One of my good friends here just quit the FAC because she was so tired of the greves. They didn't have class but still had the scheduled exams. She was fed up with it so she is going to a private school now. Yeah, speaking of greves, we had two more set days last week so transportation was no fun and lots of manifestations occured. Further, my friends were talking about a 23 year old who had just started at the FAC. APparently, it is NOT normal to go to school that late. If you do not go immediately after high school, you don't go at all. It also seems to me that the people who are in your "major" and class are your friends and that's it. The group of people I hang out with are all in the same class except for one who lives with one in the class. I also asked one of my friends there if typical French people spoke English because a lot of them do not know that much. They said that typically, at least in this region, people do not speak fluent or close to fluent English.

Also random thought, the French don't use "lol." THey use "mdr." It means mourir de rire : dying of laughter.

Also at the party, I talked about TV and music. I found out that the French watch Little House on the Prairie -- in French. I got a huge kick out of this. Also, they have Disney here but it's all translated, including the songs, into French. So it's universal, but not completely.

I went bowling the other night and I have never seen such an impressive alley. To play three games we only paid around 8 Euro -- a steal in the states! And the alley had a nice sit down area to eat. Also, every night is glow bowling. It was a lot of fun.

One last thing for today -- every Friday there is a bus that comes near my house which is a bus that people go to to give blood. It just parks there all day. I took a picture.



Pictures: Patisserie, Me in front of Bourges Cathedral, front of Bourges Cathedral, Palais Jacques Coeur (best I could do), blood donor bus

Top Ten Things that are Impolite in French culture and not in American culture

1. When someone sneezes, you’re not supposed to say bless you ; you ignore them
2. Don’t cut your lettuce; it's really impolite, instead you fold your lettuce and push it onto a piece of bread if necessary.
3. Looking away during a toast when "dinging" (can't think of the real English word) glasses in horribly rude
4. You don’t smile at people on the street: unless it’s a dog or a little child
5. Bare feet -- I've talked about this before...no running around the house without shoes!
6. Hugging -- kissing on the lips is less affectionate and "crossing the line" than a hug is. The order: Bisous (kissing each cheek, starting with the right), Kissing in the lips, Hugging
7. It is impolite to go into a small, private, non-chain store and paw around in the items and then leave without buying anything.
8. Hands under the table -- this is incredibly rude. Etiquette dictates that one should put their hands next to their plate and rest the elbows at the edge of the table.
9. Technically speaking -- it is impolite for a man to open a door for a woman. He is supposed to enter a restaurant or building first.
10. Use a bill (rather than coins) when something you are buying costs less than 5 Euro. The Euro has a 2 piece and a 1 piece. Perfect change is preferred here. They use coins SO much more than in the states.

I look forward to your quesitons!